


The Safe Room

by Death



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Chris and Ashley forever, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, OTP Feels, Protective Chris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 16:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Death/pseuds/Death
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After choosing to shoot himself rather than Ashley, it is revealed that the gun only contained blanks. Managing to escape and free Ashley before the psycho could stop him, Chris lead Ashley away from the violent scene, and what came next was something both of them knew was coming for a long time...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for giving this lil fic a look! It's just a little angsty/fluff sort of thing, and I loved writing it.

He had died for her twice. Once when he watched his best friend get butchered by a saw-blade; and once more when he chose to shoot himself instead of her, believing that it would end his life. Chris had died twice, and both times they were for Ashley. 

He held her as they walked down the long, crumbling corridor that connected the old hotel to the Washington’s lodge, each step a trembling and awkward mess as she struggled to keep moving. She was hurting, both on the inside and the out. Covered in blood and sporting a black eye and bleeding nose, the girl looked horrible, yet through her tears and laboured breathing Chris could feel that she was still fighting. Still holding on to whatever it was that kept her going, and he hoped more than anything that it was his presence. 

“Come on Ash, almost back at the lodge. Almost there, I- I promise.”

“I don’t think I can do this Chris,” she said, her voice breaking as she said his name, causing what looked to be a wave of nausea to flash across her face as she closed her eyes and cupped her mouth. 

“No! No no no Ash we’re almost there. We can rest once we’re safe. Please… Don’t stop moving, okay?”

“But… We won’t ever be safe Chris.”

“We will be, I promise. I’ll get us to the lodge, I’ll clean you up, okay?” Her response was a solum nod as she bit her lip. She stopped crying, holding back whatever tears were fighting to escape as she wrapped an arm around Chris’s middle. His right arm was already around her shoulder, and as she leaned into him completely, he realized just how shaken up she was.

“Just focus on me,” he said. “Focus on me. We’re almost there.”

And they were almost there. Within a few more seconds of walking they were at the door that opened into the basement of the lodge. Chris nudged it open slowly, pushing Ashley behind him gently as he checked the hallway beyond. It was clear, and he was one step closer to his goal; making Ashley feel safe. 

They walked slower as they made their way through the basement. Chris holding her close as he looked around corners and continuously scanned his surroundings in case anything tried to jump out and hurt Ashley. He was now close to the stairs that lead to the main floor, when a loud thump sounded far off behind him. Ashley jumped as she looked behind herself, her view blocked by Chris’s arm as he too turned slightly. There was no one there, but still, he couldn’t be too careful. He had to keep Ashley safe. He had to protect her. He had to. 

“Okay,” he whispered, gathering up as much courage as he could. “We’re going to move. Fast. Once I open this door, we aren’t going to stop moving till we get upstairs and find the bathroom.”

“Why the bathroom?” asked Ashley, and for a moment Chris was lost in the sight of her. Ghostly pale with a look of trauma about her; it made him feel sick.

“Your black eye,” he murmured, unable to keep the anger he felt when looking at the ugly mark from coming out in his voice. “I want to take a look at it, and, uh, your cheek, you’ve got a bad cut Ash.” 

After a moments hesitation, she bit her lower lip and nodded her head, her red hair swaying slightly as it rested back against her face as she stopped nodding. Forcing himself to focus on what Ashley needed and not what he wanted to do right then and there, he let out a slow and uneasy breathe as he looked to the door. Squeezing Ashley’s shoulder as he reached for the handle, she nuzzled her way closer into his side as she looked up at him from the corner of her eye. He knew what she was thinking. She was beyond scared and must have wanted to stop and rest, but he was scared too, and there was no way he was taking any chances with her. They needed a safe room. 

“Don’t worry Ash. Nothing will happen. I- I’ll… Keep you safe,” he said before gripping the handle, and Ashley shook her head. 

“Okay… Lets go,” she said, looking back to the door as a small tone of confidence crept back into her exhausted voice.

Chris eyed her for a moment before swallowing hard. He had almost let it slip, but after all that had happened, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing to occur. For a brief moment, Chris was sure that he was going to tell Ashley how he felt about her. How something about her made his heart want to jump out of his chest every time she was around, or how the sound of her voice made him want to melt into the ground in a dramatic and poetic kind of way. He knew it now more than ever, and for some reason that scared him. He loved her. 

Pushing the thought away as he pulled Ashley closer, he turned the doorknob, and they began to move through the doorway. She kept up with him as he moved silently and efficiently, hopefully unaware of the anxiety he was feeling. He loved her and he knew it. It wasn’t a crush. He loved her, and whoever had given her the black eye was going to get his face murdered off.


	2. Chapter 2

The run upstairs was quick and painless for the most part. They moved silently, barely making a sound save the odd creek of the old wooden floors and stairs of the lodge.

As they made it to the top floor, the sound of a door being kicked in from somewhere in the basement made them both jump as they looked behind themselves. Someone was after them, it was a fact now, and Chris couldn’t have been more scared. He turned himself around as he kept Ashley moving, and within a few more steps they were turning a corner and heading down the hallway that connected to the upstairs bathroom. Without thinking twice he reached for the handle and threw the door open, catching it before it could slam against the wall. They had made it, and as Chris closed the door behind them he leaned his back against it as he tried to control his breathing.

He saw Ashley staring at him as he leaned with all his weight against the door, her face full of concern and anxiety, and froze. She made him feel hallow, and he knew the only thing that could possibly fill him up was the touch of her skin against his. He sighed as he closed his eyes, focusing on Ashley instead of the twist in his gut that told him to start running away.

“See?” he said with a half-assed smile, his voice barely above a whisper. “All good. We made it.”

“But what’s out there Chris? What do you think is behind us?”

“I, uh. I don’t know, but, its not getting in here.”

“How can you possibly know that?” whispered Ashley, the words coming out almost harshly as she nervously bit her lip.

“Ash don’t freak out, we need to keep our heads screwed on, right?” She paused for a moment, and Chris leaned away from the door.

“R-right,” she said. “You’re right. I’m just-"

“Freaking out. I am too, don’t worry, let me do the freaking out for the both of us,” Chris finished, and though his tone was light-hearted, it didn’t seem to resonate well with Ashley.

Frowning slightly as he took a small step forward, Chris turned and locked the door as quietly as he could, confident now that whoever was after them didn’t have a clue as to where they were. He had time to look after her now, and that was all he wanted more than anything in the world. He breathed out a sluggish sigh of relief as he turned back around, and took Ashley’s hand in his as he guided her to the sink.

“Here,” he said. “Sit up on the counter, we should be able to find something to help your eye in here, but who knows, we might need to operate.” And without argument Ashley did as she was told, kicking her legs out as she edged her way back onto the counter by the sink. He noted that she hadn’t even smirked at this sad excuse of a joke, and began searching for a first-aid kit.

He was no doctor. Sam was the one who got the most scrapes out of their friend group, and if she were there she would have known what to do. But Sam wasn’t there, and for all he knew, she was dead.

Chris swallowed back the rising panic he felt choking at his throat, and calmly began rummaging through the cupboards at Ashley’s feet, then the ones above her head, and came up with a few bandages and some hydrogen peroxide.

“Guess this’ll have to work, for your cuts I mean. Not, like, on your eye or anything,” he stammered, and he looked back to Ashley, sad that he hadn’t found any painkillers.

Her eye was swollen and red, and she winced when he gently placed a hand on her cheek.

“Jeez Ash…” he said, his ability to speak fading away as he fully took in the damage done to her face. He was getting angry again, but the anger dissipated as her expression softened.

“Chris, I’m fine. Really,” she said, but the words didn’t make sense, he knew her well enough to know that she was the type to lie about being in pain.

“You aren’t alright.”

“I am.”

“No, you aren’t,” he said almost forcefully, and Ashley closed her eyes as she bit the inside of her lip. She didn’t move away from the hand that still rested on her cheek, and Chris didn’t dare move a muscle.

He was coming off too harshly, he could feel it, but his need to keep her safe, make her feel protected, it was drowning him. He wanted to take her away from all this. Make her forget about Josh being torn apart and the gun he nearly held to her head. The gun.

The memory made him drop his gaze to the floor, and he rested his hand that was once touching Ashley’s cheek on her shoulder.

“I’m… I’m so sorry Ashley,” he whispered, and for a moment they were frozen in time, but then Ashley was moving, her hair coming into his peripheral as she leaned in closer to him, and then came the touch of her head to his.

“Chris,” she said. “What you did for me, I- I have no words Chris. I mean. I just… Thank you, Chris. Thank you.”

Another moment of pause passed between them before Ashley brought up her arms and slowly draped them over Chris’s shoulders.

“I don’t want to be your burden Chris,” she said. “I’ll make it up to you. I’m the sorry one.”

“What are you talking about?” Chris asked, and he raised his head as Ashley did the same. They locked eyes, and again that same hallow feeling made Chris want to drop to his knees. “You’ve never been a burden. All that’s happened to us. Everything I’ve done… It was all worth it. Being with you, that was all I ever wanted… None of this, none of my time was wasted.”

She watched him with cautious eyes, and Chris couldn’t tell what she was thinking, not until she smiled softly and leaned her forehead in toward him. Meeting her half way he rested his forehead against hers, the pink and purple wool of her hat scratching him as he found himself nearly smiling as well. But how could he be brought to a smile after all he had seen?

“It’s just not fair,” she whispered, looking toward her knees as she let out a deep sigh. Was she trying not to cry?

“It doesn’t really matter if its fair or not,” he said, and he could tell that Ashley was listening to everything he was saying intently. “As long as we’re together. I. Um… Well. It will be alright.”

And without warning Ashley tilted her chin upwards, bringing her lips closer to Chris’s as she kept her eyes closed. And just like that, they were kissing. 

There was a moment of complete surprise as Chris felt his entire body go rigid all at once only to relax seconds later. Ashley’s lips were touching his. They were kissing, and her mouth was warm against his as his thoughts raced. With all that had happened, a kiss from Ashley was the last thing he would have expected, yet here he was, and only one thing made sense in his mind.

“I love you,” he whispered, his words barely forming against her mouth as he prayed silently that she wouldn’t hear his heartbeat. And then he worried, had he actually told her that he loved her? Was it even his own voice? It sounded far too scared and awkward to be his own, yet still, the words slipped through the cracks of the quickly breaking dam that held back all that Chris had wanted to say to Ashley for a long, long time.

“I know Chris…” she whispered back, and he could feel her lips slowly slipping into a smile against his “… and I love you too.”

His heart clenched in his chest, but after the nearly painful moment of shock after hearing those words come from Ashley’s mouth came a sincere sort of longing that filled up all the hallow parts Chris had left inside, and he leaned in fast, kissing her harder as he reached up and put a hand behind her head. He was drowning again. Drowning in his need to keep Ashley close by and to protect her. But he had done it. She was safe. And so was he. And they were kissing as if they might never see each other again, but for some reason Chris didn’t mind the intensity at all. Until finally they pulled away from each other slowly, savouring the release of their weariness, and embarrassing the possibility of surviving until dawn. They could make it, together, and completely start over, as long as they had each other to do it with.

And then came a silence, so peaceful and fulfilling that it made Chris want to cry in Ashley’s arms as he watched her, his world drenched in the pale green that was her eyes, and felt all the oxygen in his lungs leave his body as she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his again.

“Ashley, if I… if I don’t make it past tonight-“

“Don’t talk about that. Please.”

“But if I don’t Ash, you can’t let yourself die. Promise me, please, promise me that you won’t give up, that you’ll keep fighting after I’ve… died… Just in case. Please Ash, please.”

She paused for a moment, hesitating as she took in Chris’s words, but when she finally spoke, she saved him with two small words.

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never written a short story before and this was pretty fun. I'm usually more into big plots but this was a great break from all that. Thanks for reading :')


End file.
